Heart of Steel
by chenchen97
Summary: Reyna never did something without reason. Training hard, being made Praetor, accepting Percy into camp; all with a reason. Now who said that reason wasn't a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyes, son of Jupiter? Reyna/Jason. Oneshot.


**Heart of Steel**

Reyna was more troubled than she let on. Everyone thought she was made of steel, impossible to break. From the beginning, she had vowed to herself that she wouldn't let anyone else hurt her or come between her and the people she loved. After that boy and the girl had destroyed her life, Reyna's outlook on life had changed. Instead of living in the moment and wishing for things to come true, she acted on these wishes. What she wanted, she strived to get. She didn't let little things stand in her way anymore. So when Jason was elected praetor, Reyna knew she wanted to be one too. Even though Reyna rarely admitted to herself, he was the main reason why she had tried so hard to earn everyone's approval. After Julia, the praetor, decided to retire and go to college, Reyna knew it was her chance. She and Jason were pretty close; they had been on a quest together. Reyna heard whispers; whispers that said she was going to be the next Praetor, that many people were voting for her, that even Jason was going to recommend her himself.

On the outside, she was calm and collected, acting as if this happened to her on an everyday basis, but inside, she was jumping with joy. She was most likely going to become praetor with Jason! After that, Reyna pushed herself harder than ever. And within a month, she was the newly elected Praetor of Camp Jupiter. It was one of the main highlights of her life. She and Jason steadily grew closer. There were very few people that she trusted completely. Her sister was one of those, until they had their falling out with the whole Camp Jupiter and Amazons ordeal. She had some friends at the Camp, but none of which she was close to. There was this one girl, Kayla that she shared almost everything with. Kayla was chosen to accompany someone with a quest, she never came back. After that, Reyna decided to train hard, fight well, and not open her heart to anyone else. And then she met Jason. So everything changed.

Once Reyna was praetor, she and Jason relied on each other. They told each other as much stuff that one would tell to a friend of the opposite gender. Jason had many friends in the camp, seeing that he'd been there since he was a baby. As praetor, Reyna trusted fewer and fewer people, none of which included Jason, but she learned to work with them. Jason's friend, Bobby, was a son of Apollo. He was very playful. One day, when Reyna was cleaning Jason's cabin, Bobby came in. They didn't really talk much, and when they did, it was because Jason was there. He was the middle man, without him, conversation was sort of awkward.

"Hey."

Reyna looked up and smiled. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Bobbly shrugged, and put his hands in his pockets. "Look, there's something I need to tell you, okay? But don't tell anyone that I was the one to tell you, okay?"

Reyna got up from the floor, and studied his face carefully. She nodded, "Go on."

"Well," Bobby wringed his hands_. A sign of nervousness_, Reyna thought. _Oh Gods, he's going to ask me out. _She immediately began to think of ways to turn him down politely, and then felt bad.

Bobby continued, "Okay then. I'll just say it. I'm pretty sure Jason likes you."

Reyna watched as he looked at her carefully. She skillfully kept her face from showing any emotion, but on the inside, her brain was working overtime, asking questions like, _He likes me? Since when? Did he tell you? Did he tell you to tell me? Why hasn't he told me? Are you sure? How do you know?_

Finally, Reyna arched an eyebrow, another movement she had perfected, and then asked the single question that mattered the most, "How do you know?"

Bobby shrugged again. "Just you know, when he talks about you, his face gets all red and stuff. And he sort of stutters a bit, and he looks all dreamy sometimes. But he's like you. He's stubborn. We've been trying to get him to admit it for ages. But the first time Dakota and I asked him, he was all in denial. And after we kept bugging him, he threatened to make us personal rain clouds, which are really really horrible. But then, well, it's pretty obvious now. He's just so stubborn."

Reyna tried suppressing a smile, but Bobbly noticed. "Ha! I knew it! You DO like him! Hahahahaha. I'm going to tell him! And then he's paying me!"

"Bobby, don't—" But it was too late, he was already halfway down the road, running toward the Senate house, where Jason was. Reyna signed. Maybe this was for the best. She _was _kind of stubborn when it came to admitting stuff.

That night, after dinner, Jason approached Reyna. She kept her calm face on and acted as if nothing usual had happened.

"Hey." He said.

Reyna couldn't help but noticing how soft his hair looked, getting a little bit longer than usual. It gleamed like gold under the moonlight. Jason had the most handsome face, in Reyna's opinion, from his broad cheekbones to that little scar on his lip. Reyna remembered when he had told her the story of that little crescent cut.

She smiled at him as he gestured at the path before them, "You want to walk?"

Reyna shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

It was a full moon that night. There were no war games or activities that night. It was the anniversary of some horrible war. Everyone was supposed to be mourning, but of course, no one really was. No one really knew why they were mourning.

Together, Reyna and Jason walked along the forest in silence. It wasn't one of those awkward ones, where you didn't know what to say. It was friendly, and peaceful. They didn't need words, the others presence was enough. After what could have been five minutes, or five hours—Reyna didn't know—Jason took her hand in his.

"I know that Bobby talked to you today." His eyes were so blue, so truthful.

Reyna nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Jason continued, "I wanted to know if what he said is true."

Reyna was usually the girl that was composed, with a plan, but right there, at that moment, she was the exact opposite. She put her arms around his neck and looked into his clear blue eyes, before kissing him. His hands went around her back, drawing her close. It felt so natural, kissing Jason.

After they pulled apart, Reyna smiled, leaning her head onto his chest. "I don't know Jason, you tell me."

After that night, they became much closer, if that was even possible. They were sort of an item for about a week. The talk didn't last long, with the whole Titan War coming up and everything. And anyways, almost anyone who was someone knew that they would end up together. Most praetors did anyways.

During the Titan War, Reyna was terrified. Not about her own safety, but of Jason's. Before the fighting started, she confessed to him, about how scared she was. About how scared she was about him not surviving. That was when he told her he loved her. And that he felt the same fear as her, but about her. And that he would never leave her. That he would always come back to her, and never forget her. They stayed with each other for a while, before rejoining the others.

After Jason had defeated the Titan Krios, Reyna was so proud of him, not that she wasn't before that. Reyna wanted to be with him alone, with no one to bug them, so she officially called him into the Senate building for a 'private meeting', which roughly translated to 'make-out session'.

Two days later, he was gone. And Reyna felt completely empty and hollow, but of course, she didn't let it show. She put so much effort into looking for him, so much time into worrying for him, so many sleepless night wondering where he was, and what god she had displeased. There were no answers. So Reyna lived each month, day by day, in a trance. When she heard rustling, she would think it was him. When thunder rumbled, she thought he was sending a message. Every little detail about life always led her thoughts to him. She never really gave up, she wasn't that girl. To spend years trying to get the guy she liked and just diving up on him when he disappeared.

Along with Jason disappearing off to who-knows-where, Reyna also had to deal with Octavian, who was constantly telling her she needed to hold elections for a new praetor. And more than once, he had heavily hinted that it should be him. Reyna refused to do this, because choosing a new praetor would be like giving up on Jason. And she would never give up. Until she knew what had happened to him. She held this up for half a year. Until that _boy _had come.

After the whole C.C. incident, Reyna had always hated those two people who had ruined her and her sister's lives. Sure, she understood they did it mainly to survive, but those weeks spent with those pirates? They were beyond horrible. After the Percy boy had gotten a place in the fifth cohort, Reyna had gone to find Octavian, and told him to tell her about the Percy boy.

Octavian did not seem to want to, but he cut up a stuffed blue bear anyways. He had told her that he had a long and interesting history, which could not be seen. He also told her that he had an important role to play, and that whether their camp was destroyed depended on his actions. Reyna asked about his background, but Octavian had merely said, "That part is covered, by a thick veil, that even I cannot break." With that piece of information, he collapsed, out of exhaustion or something else, Reyna did not know. But a few campers had dragged him into his cabin.

Reyna continued to keep a careful eye on Percy. He appeared to be a lost boy, without any memories, but by studying him, Reyna could tell he was a very excellent fighter. But his style was definitely not Roman. Reyna watched as he helped lead his cohort into victory at the War Games, but later let Frank take all the credit. She saw how he defied Mars. How he called him Ares, his Greek name. Percy seemed so sure that he had fought him, which seemed so unimaginable, in Reyna's opinion. Challenge a god? And no less, the god of war? That would have taken courage.

The more Reyna learned about Percy, the more she thought he was like Jason, a replacement for Jason. She remembered how Jason had defeated Krios. She wouldn't be surprised if Percy had defeated a Titan too. She heard stuff about him. How he only remembered his girlfriend, Annabeth, the one girl with him at C.C.'s island. This sort of gave her hope. After listening to Octavian rant about the supposed 'Greeks', Reyna had toyed with the idea too. What if Jason was at another camp, like Percy? If he was _just _like Percy, then he would remember her too. Reyna went to sleep with that thought, full of hope.

When she offered Percy the position of praetor, she had expected him to decline. That was the exact thing that Jason would have done. She pressed him, simply because Camp Jupiter needed another praetor, someone like Jason. In Reyna's opinion, that person would be Percy. She could tell that he had lots of experience with fighting. She could tell by looking in his eyes. In ways, they were similar to Jason's: blue, with that gleam in it that said _I have seen and done so much more than you. And you're lucky because of that. _They also had that little bit of sadness in them, except Percy's looked like the sea, while Jason's resembled the sky.

Reyna was a little sorry to have given Frank's quest so little support, but it was necessary. She knew of the upcoming war. She just hoped that they would succeed, just like she hoped that Jason would come back.

At the battle on the day of the Feast of Fortuna, Reyna help onto that small sliver of hope that Percy, Frank, and Hazel would make it back in time. And they did, just in time. She felt that proudness again, when Percy defeated Polybotes. She was glad that she finally had a fellow praetor, after the Jackson boy finally accepted. It would be nice to depend on someone else, even if they weren't Jason. Reyna realized that she had forgiven Percy for the incident completely. And now, she and her sister were on good terms again, all thanks to Percy.

By what Percy had told Reyna, about Jason coming back on that big Greek warship, it was almost too good to be true. But Reyna had waited for months, and surely, she could wait a few more minutes. By the time she was outside, listening to Octavian ranting about killing the Greeks, she had already decided that she would be optimistic about this. She had finally accepted that Jason was gone, but now, he was coming back. She didn't even know if he had his memory yet. But with what Percy was like, Reyna had concluded that Greeks were friendlier. So maybe Jason did have his memory, and then again, maybe not. Either way, Reyna was going to accept it, like she had with his disappearance. Because she knew that a Jason without his memories was better than no memories at all, because after all, he would get them back, eventually.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked it. (: I wrote this right after I read Son of Neptune, so a while ago. **

**Reviews are to me as cookies are to Cookie Monster. [:'**

**-chenchen97**


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